This photo shows Tuek Thla Pagoda in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where the body of a 22-year-old student who died of torture inside a Cambodian scam compound is being kept ahead of a joint autopsy. - Photo: Yonhap
SEOUL: Following the repatriation of dozens of South Koreans from Cambodia on Saturday (Oct 18), a ruling party lawmaker urged the Lee Jae Myung administration to suspend foreign aid to the country if there is no progress on safety issues there.
"If Cambodia continues to refuse to cooperate with South Korea despite diplomatic efforts by President Lee Jae Myung's administration, the government should proactively consider stopping foreign aid to Cambodia," Rep. Jeon Hyun-heui, a three-term lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, said in a press conference at the National Assembly on Sunday (Oct 19).
Her remarks contrasted with the government’s stance, which said it was not linking the recent crimes in Cambodia to South Korea’s official development assistance to the Southeast Asian nation.
Wi Sung-lac, director of the presidential National Security Office, said in a briefing Wednesday that he would “not directly associate the surge in crimes with ODA,” although he said some aid projects were under investigation for alleged corruption.
According to government data submitted to the National Assembly, the budget allocated to Cambodian projects more than doubled to 435.3 billion won (US$305.5 million) for this year, from 178.9 billion won in 2022.
The percentage increase was the sharpest among the 27 destinations for South Korean foreign aid. A liberal party-sponsored special counsel team suspects that the previous conservative administration's increase in foreign aid to Cambodia is linked to alleged corruption involving the Unification Church, which had sought to carry out a development project in Cambodia.
An international project to improve water management in Cambodia has been suspended amid the worsening situation there, the state-run Science & Technology Policy Institute, known as STEPI, said Sunday.
The initiative between South Korea and the United Nations Development Program aims to boost climate resilience in the Mekong River region, which includes Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. As part of the effort, STEPI and South Korean firms launched a pilot programme using renewable energy for water supply in Cambodia.
A planned ceremony to hand over the project to Cambodian authorities has been postponed, STEPI said, though similar projects will continue elsewhere.
Jeon, who is also a member of the party's supreme council, said Korea was not benefiting from its aid to the country.
"What came in return for the spike in South Korea's ODA to Cambodia was the gruesome reality of abduction, violence and homicide targeting Koreans," she said.
Jeon echoed the stance of other lawmakers — including Rep. Lee Eun-ju of the Democratic Party — that Seoul might need to opt for military intervention to address safety concerns there.
"South Korea cannot rule out military action if necessary," she said, adding her remarks did not suggest war against Cambodia, but that it was legitimate to use military intervention to ensure people's safety as enshrined in the Constitution.
Later Sunday, however, Rep. Kim Byung-kee, floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party, refuted Jeon's claims by playing down any possibilities of military action.
Rep. Kim Byung-joo, an Army general-turned-lawmaker who visited Cambodia last week and led a separate operation to bring three Koreans home, also said that military action was not something for Seoul to consider.
This came as lawmakers of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee are also set to hold a parliamentary inspection of South Korea's embassy in Cambodia to oversee the diplomatic missions' operations in Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos on Wednesday.
The lawmakers will also visit sites believed to have operated as scam compounds, on the outskirts of Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, during their visit to the country from Tuesday to Friday.
Meanwhile, police on Sunday announced plans to send police investigators and a forensic pathologist to Phnom Penh that evening to conduct an autopsy on a 22-year-old South Korean man with the Cambodian authorities Monday, as agreed during interagency team's visit to Cambodia last week.
Police also sought court arrest warrants for South Koreans who were repatriated Saturday. The warrants had not been issued as of press time.
This follows Seoul's repatriation of 64 Koreans on Saturday following the arrival of an interagency response team from Seoul led by Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jin-a on Wednesday. They will undergo a police investigation, as they were held by Cambodian authorities on suspicion of taking part in scams and their repatriation is legally a deportation.
The deportees have been in custody since boarding a chartered flight from Phnom Penh to Incheon that flew in the early hours of Saturday. Over 190 police officers accompanied the flight. They can be held without a court warrant for up to 48 hours, or until Monday morning.
An estimated 1,500 more Korean nationals who are also suspected of involvement in scam activities in Cambodia have not returned.
Meanwhile, the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit, a body under the Financial Services Commission dedicated to monitoring money laundering, is reportedly considering taking action against entities involved in such transnational scams, such as Prince Group or Huione Group. - The Korea Herald/ANN
